What is your impression about the recent electoral violence in Rivers State despite the heavy presence of security agents?
The entire scenario was very disturbing and this is not talking about just Rivers State, but in the nation generally. The accusation that security agents were snatching ballot boxes in some local governments is most disheartening, and as if that was not enough, some people have been arrested for beheading two policemen and murder of others in the elections.
It is indeed very regrettable that many politically exposed policemen and other security agents have compromised and deviated from professional duties to serve the interest of politicians.
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While it is pitiable that our policemen were killed in the Rivers elections, I regret to say that many of our policemen are often induced, not just in the Rivers State elections, but in various elections in the country such that they look the other way when electoral malpractices are being carried out. This is very sad.
What should the officers and men do to avoid inducement by politicians?
Our officers and men should be professional and ethical no matter the lure of inducements from politicians. Most of the problems we have in this country bother on inducements by politicians to serve their own interests and that of their parties.
Even when a suspect is arrested in an election, it is the same governors and ministers who will ask the police commissioners to release them. And this is what is destroying law enforcement in this country.
If an offense is committed, they should look at the law as a hot iron and anyone who touches it gets hurt. If anyone commits an offence, the law should take its cause. Another major problem is that when the police are ready to do a professional job, the government through Ministry of Justice enters knole proseque and prevent prosecution and that is the end of the case.
So that is why we have preponderance of electoral offenders and offences in the country. If the police at all levels are allowed to do their job in accordance with the law, these electoral offenders will go to jail and that will deter others.
The police and other security agents play vital roles in election duties and in the preservation of law and order, and should sustain this to ensure integrity of our elections. The leadership of the police should also be exemplary and avoid bias in the discharge of their duties because government and government officials will try to sway them to deviate from the cause of justice.
They should be fair to all suspects on investigation into various cases on the Rivers election by being ingenious and professional to see beyond subterfuge because in investigation, things are not always the way they seem. Nobody should interfere with the investigation of the policemen arrested, rather their case should be handled according to law without biases and their rights should not be violated.
What is your position on the Southern Kaduna killings?
You see, I have read two versions of the story: first that of the people of Southern Kaduna and then that of Miyeti Allah.
What is required is to look at both sides of the coin in order to be able to get the true picture. The allegation is that a lot of Southern people, especially those who are not Fulanis are said to have been killed and the Fulanis are saying that they have been there for a long time, intermarrying and cohabiting until this development.
It is very complicated and people are taking sides. Like the other day I read Asari Dokubo asking Christians to go on counter-attack. He is not there and does not have the facts of the issue. That was a wrong advice because he was not there and did not have first-hand information. I have always said that government should be able to hold an enquiry into this.
We must ascertain whether the farmers are causing the problem or the Fulanis. It is only then that we will be able to know the truth; we need a public enquiry just like the Justice Chukwudifu Oputa Panel set up by then President Olusegun Obasanjo on assumption of office in 1999.
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That is when the truth will be revealed. Now because President Muhammadu Buhari is a Fulani man, everyone is saying that he chose to be silent because he is endorsing the killings. That is not fair.
The Fulani man is one that does not forget in a hurry. If today you steal his cattle or tomorrow you kill his brother or sister, or do anything to his wife, no matter how long it takes, except the matter is resolved, he will come for revenge.
That is why the trouble is festering for so long. I just think that people should have the fear of God and forgive because many years back, people from Southern Kaduna and Plateaus and that region were known to be very orderly.
They were very religious and loving, but today everything has gone the way they have. Islam is a religion of peace and those who practice the true religion do not kill one another. Let there be an enquiry and it is then government will get to the root of the matter and know the decision to take.
Do you remember this was one of the issues that led to involvement of General Zamani Lekwot about three decades ago at Zango Kattaf and Kafanchan areas and I guess there had been lots of inquiries into this matter? Don’t you think there is a fundamental issue here?
What I am saying is that since then there have been no inquiry into the matter, instead what we have been hearing were allegations and counter-allegations. So far, no inquiries have been conducted- as it is some Christians are making allegations and Muslims are also saying theirs and the whole thing is muddled up.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai once referred to an investigative report, saying these killers are nomadic herdsmen from outside Nigerian. Have they looked at this?
And why did it take the Federal Government so long a time to deploy the military to that area? If the people are nomadic herdsmen coming to cause havoc form wherever, what we expect security agencies to do is to arrest these people, charge them to court and let the people know them. So that we and start from there.
Now on the other hand, it is not the duty of the military to move into such a place each time there is a disturbance, rather it is only when they are invited and it is only the President, as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces who can approve the deployment of the military.
And in this case, the police must have first been deployed to the area, but sending the military there right from the onset would not have been appropriate because they are trained to kill. But on the part of the police, they are more suitable for that job because they have anti-riot wind which can manage and quell troubles before they escalate.
The military are called in as the last resort and it is not a good crisis management strategy to ask the military to take the place of the police when such things start. As far as I am concerned, there is nothing wrong about deploying the military now because the whole thing is escalating.
What is your impression about the capture of Samabisa Forest?
It is a good development, but again we should not relax because these terrorists have dispersed into the society and they are everywhere. It is not easy to identify a Boko Haram person because they have no mark of identity and they don’t wear uniforms like the armed forces.
So they can still be in the society and they have not been purged of the knowledge of building bombs and can still get the components of bombs. Our people should be extremely careful and vigilant.
We should not over-rejoice now because the people are still around because if we relax now, we do that at our peril. I also read in the papers the other day that the terrorist were trying to cause havoc in Abuja Lagos and some other areas. We have to be careful and vigilant.
My prayer is that Boko Haram people should not team up with Niger Delta militants, because if they do this whole country will be on fire.
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